Pochettino: The goal of the team is always to win the game and to be at the top of all the competitions involved

According to the official website of Paris Saint-Germain, the team's coach Pochettino said in an interview that this season is a huge challenge, and the team's goal is always to win the game and be at the top of all the competitions involved.

What do you think of the first half of the season?

I think this season has been a huge challenge, there are a lot of exciting things happening and I think some very important things have been done. We have a great team, a big challenge is to make sure everything works for the team, and at key moments in the season, those talented players come to the fore and bring the results we want, which is what Paris Saint-Germain deserves.

How did you run into new players?

This is perhaps the most difficult thing to do. I think in football and philosophy, training and technical and tactical aspects, every manager now is ready. The secret, as I said, is to make every player feel like they belong to a team and an idea, to build a good connection with the team, to understand each other smoothly, to have a sense of solidarity that we can all be involved in and feel our importance to the team. I think that's the most important challenge, more important than any system, tactics or game plan.

How do you make that connection?

There are different strategies for each player, but it's also a matter of time in order to get to know each other and make those connections. To make connections naturally, relationships cannot be forced, they take a certain amount of time. I think it's normal for every player who comes into this team to need these moments and also need different times. Only as the season progresses will they get stronger.

In order for your talented players to play at their best, discussion and communication are very important to you

I think it's very obvious that our players are people and we always talk about football in an emotional context. Emotions control every aspect of life, and so does football. Fans are driven by passion, it's an emotion, we play because we like to play, because it's also an emotion that overflows within us. We can't treat players as motionless, lifeless things. They will feel pain and have the same troubles as others, but at the same time, they also have the responsibility to play more competitive football and achieve good results.

So you have to take all of that into account in order to be able to handle an unhappy player in the best possible way, when it's hard for them to show their talent. A player's priority is not football, it's always difficult to show talent on the pitch when there are certain annoyances, but I always treat players like everyone else, in order to play wherever they want to play.

I think we're managers most of the time, but we're also friends, psychologists, and parents. We adapt to the needs of the players because at the end of the day we treat them as our own children.

How do you schedule the rest of the season?

As I often say, we are all in a state of complete uncertainty. We live in difficult times when the virus is raging, with different cases popping up every day. We don't know if we'll have 20, 15 or 25 players going to train tomorrow, and we'll have to make adjustments every day. So, naturally I want everything to go well, I hope we can improve in every area, and I think our goal is always to win the races, to be at the top of all the races that we're involved in.

(Zhen Shiming)